Register construction



Sept. 15, 1959 v, BOWMAN 2,903,957

REGISTER CONSTRUCTION I Filed May 27, 1957 INVENTOR. M 7.30%

United States Patent REGISTER CQNSTRUCTION Henry V. Bowman, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Char- Gale Manufacturing Company, Anoka, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application May 27, 1957, Serial No. 661,894

2 Claims. (Cl. 98106) My invention relates generally to a register construction for hot air heating and air conditioning installations.

More particularly, my invention relates to novel detail of construction in registers of the type including a perforate register plate and a closure plate pivotally secured rearwardly of the register plate for swinging movements toward and away from a closed position relative to the register plate.

A further object of my invention is a device of the class immediately above described wherein novel and inexpensive means is provided for imparting opening and closing swinging movements to said closure plate.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the class immediately above described wherein said means includes a shaft journaled for rotation in said register plate, a knob exteriorly of said register plate and fast on said shaft, a disc-like crank member on said shaft and rotatable therewith and intermediate the register plate and the closure plate, said disc-like crank member having an integrally formed crank pin thereon, said crank pin defining a reduced neck, a rigid link, means pivotally mounting one end of said link on a horizontal axis to said closure plate in inwardly spaced relation to the pivot axis thereof, the lower end portion of said crank being bifurcated to receive the reduced neck on said crank pin, the free ends of the fork defined by the bifurcated lower end portion of said link being in substantial engagement with each other whereby to permit rotation of said crank pin relative to said link but preventing the longitudinal displacement of said link with respect to said crank A further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the class generally above described in which said disc-like member is formed to provide a radially outwardly opening notch the opposite ends of which define circumferentially spaced abutment portions, and in which said register plate radially outwardly of said shaft and underlying said knob is formed to define a circumferentially extended slot, and in further combination with an indicator plate loosely mounted on said shaft intermediate said register plate and said knob, a washer concentric with said shaft intermediate said register plate and said disclike crank member, and a stop screw extending loosely through said indicator plate and through the slot in said register plate and having threaded engagement with said washer, the rearwardly projected free end of said stop screw being engageable with the abutment portions on said disc-like crank member upon rotation of said knob and shaft in opposite directions, releasable locking of said stop screw in desired set positions between limits of movement thereof in the slot of said register plate shifting the range of rotary movements of said rotary member and varying the degree of opening and closing swinging movements imparted by said link to said closure plate.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the class above described which, with a minimum of working parts, provides a maximum degree ice of adjustability to be imparted to the closure plate with a minimum of time and skill.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the class generally above described which is relatively inexpensive to produce, which has a minimum of working parts, which is conducive to quick assembly, but which is rugged and durable in construction.

The above and still further objects of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed specification, appended claims, and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of my novel structure;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view in rear elevation as seen substantially from the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view as seen from the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the disc-like crank member utilized in my novel construction.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates in its entirety a generally rectangular register plate preferably formed from a single sheet of suitable metal or the like to define a marginal frame 2 and a plurality of louvered perforations or openings 3. Centrally of the louvered openings .3, a shaft 4 is journaled for rotation in the register plate 1. A conventional knob 5 is fast on one end of the shaft 4 forwardly of the register plate 1. An adjustment plate 6, preferably and as shown with a grasping pointer 7 thereon which projects radially outwardly of the knob 5, is provided with a central opening 8 for the loose reception ofthe shaft 4 intermediate the knob 5 and the register plate 1. It should here be noted that the register plate 1 is extruded about theshaft 4 to provide a rearwardly projecting bearing 9 therefor;

Immediately to the rear of the register plate 1 is a perforate washer 10 which is concentric with the shaft 4 and rotatable on the bearing 9. Rigidlysecured to the inner end of the shaft 4, through the medium of a screw 11 and; a cooperating lock washer 12, is a disc'like crank member =13, preferably and as shown having an integrally formed laterally projecting crank pin 14 which is reduced adjacent its free end, as indicated at 15, for a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent. The disc-like crank member 13, in circumferentially spaced relationship to the crank pin 14, is provided with an outwardly opening notch 16, opposite end portions of which define circumferentially spaced abutment portions 17. It should here be noted that the disc-like crank member 13 is assured of common rotation with the shaft 4 and knob 5 by means of the fiattened side edge portions 18 in the central opening 19 which mate with similar surfaces on the reduced inner end of the shaft 4, not specifically identified.

A stop screw 20 projects loosely through the indicator plate 6, preferably and as shown radially outwardly of the shaft 4 but radially inwardly of the peripheral edge of the knob 5. Stop screw 20 likewise extends loosely through a circumferentially extended slot 21, see particularly Fig. 3, in the register plate 1 and has screw threaded engagement with the lock nut-acting washer 10. The rearwardly projected free end of the stop screw 20 projects into the notch 16 in the disc-like crank member 13 and is engageable with the abutment forming opposite end portion 17 thereof whereby to limit rotary movement of the disc-like crank member 13, the shaft 4 and the knob 5 in opposite directions.

Pivotally secured on a horizontal axis, as indicated by the numeral 22, to the frame 2 rearwardly of the perforate register plate 1 for swinging movements toward and away from a closed position with respect to said register plate 1, is a closure plate 23. A rigid link 24 has its upper end portion pivotally secured as at 25 to the upper portion of the closure plate 23, also on a horizontal axis, but downwardly spaced from the pivot axis 22. The lower end portion. of thelink 24 is bifurcated as at 26 to receive between the forks 27 thereof the reduced neck 15 of the crank pin 14, see particularly Figs. 2 and3. The extreme free endsof thefork 21' are brought into close engagement with each other as indicated at 28 to confine the crank pin 14therein while permitting rotary movements ofthe link 24 with respect thereto.

From the above, it-should be obvious that rotation of the knob 5 imparts through the link 24 swinging movements of the closure plate 23 toward and from a relatively closed position with respect to the perforations 3 in the register platel. However, under certain conditions, it is frequently found desirable and necessary to shift the range of swinging movements. of the closure plate 23, whereby to cause same to open still further than shown in Fig. 2while obviously not closing as completely as would result fromthe adjustment indicated in Fig. 2. This may be brought about by merely loosening the stop screw 20 with respect to the lock nut-acting washer 10. Thereafter, the adjustment plate 6 is rotated about the shaft 4 by manually grasping the pointer 7, the stop screw 20 moving within the slot 21 in the register plate the desired extent. Thereafter, of course, the stop screw 20 is again brought into clamping engagement. with the washer 10.

My invention has been thoroughly tested and found to "be completely satisfactory for the accomplishment of the above objects, and whileI have shown a preferred embodimeat thereof, it should be obvious that same is capable of modification without departure from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, a perforate register plate, a closure plate for said register plate, means pivotally mounting one side of said closure plate rearwardly of said register plate for swinging movements toward and away from a closed position relative to said register plate, means for imparting said swinging movements to said closure plate, said means comprising a rotary shaft journaled in said register plate, a disc-like member fast on ally connected to said crank pin and said closure plate and having a crank pin projecting rearwardly thereform in .4 offset parallel realtionship to said shaft, a rigid link pivotally connected to said crank pin an dsaid closure plate and movable by said crank pin during rotation of said shaft in opposite directions to impart said swinging movements to said closure plate, said disc-like member being notched to define circumferentially spaced abutment portions, a stop element operatively carried by said register plate and projecting rearwardly therefrom into said slot and engageable with said abutment portions upon rotation of said shaft in opposite directions to positively limit rotary movements of said shaft in opposite directions, an operating knob on said shaft forwardly of said register plate, and

. means for varying the range of opening and closing swinging movements of said closure plate with respect to said register plate, said means comprising an adjustment plate loosely rotatably mounted on said shaft intermediate said knob and said register plate, and a clamping washer encompassing said shaft intermediate said closure plate and said disc-like member, said register plate having a segmental slot therein concentric with said shaft and in alignment with the notch in said disc-like member, said stop element being in the nature of a clamping screw projecting loosely through said adjustment plate and extending slidably through the segmental slot in said register plate and into the notch in said disc-like member, said clamping screw having a head engageable with said adjustment plate and having screw threaded engagement with said clamping washer.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said crank pin defines a reduced neck, one end of said rigid link being bifurcated to receive said neck, the free ends of the fork defined by the bifurcated end portion of said link being in substantial engagement with each other whereby to permit rotation of said crank pin relative to said link but preventing longitudinal displacement of said link with respect to said crank pin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,343,576 Neilson June 15, 1920 2,217,479 Guyer Oct. 8, 1940 2,735,353 Griner Feb. 21, 1956 2,764,930 Turchick Oct. 2, 1956 

